Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

“Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man” (2 panels)
Mark 7:31-37 “in a snailshell“
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
©️2021 Gloria M. Chang

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Mark 7:31-37

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Healing Hands

After healing a Syrophoenician woman’s daughter in Tyre, Jesus and his disciples walked north to Sidon, then south to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. According to scholars, the journey may have taken eight months. During the long sojourn, Jesus’ reputation as a healer spread far and wide among both Gentiles and Jews living in proximity.

Decapolis dwellers watched and waited for the return of the wonderworker. “Legion,” the notorious demoniac of the tombs who had been miraculously restored by Jesus, publicized his healing for months throughout the region (Mark 5:20), stunning everyone. When the opportunity came to bring a deaf-mute man to Jesus, people begged him to place his hand on him.

Minimizing publicity, Jesus led the deaf-mute man away from the crowd. Using only his fingers and spittle, Jesus opened his ears and released his tongue, and he began to speak plainly.

Unlike his directive to the man healed at the tombs to proclaim God’s gift, Jesus commanded the people who witnessed the healing of the deaf-mute man not to talk about it. But overwhelmed by the miracle, the people could not help but spread the story.

The Finger of God

Highly sought after, Jesus’ healing hands restored the sons and daughters of God. In Jesus Christ, anthropomorphic metaphors for the almighty God leaped into life. The “finger of God” that swarmed Egypt with gnats (Exodus 8:19) also wrote the Ten Commandments on Sinai’s stone tablets (Exodus 31:18). Jesus himself declared that he cast out demons by the “finger of God” (Luke 11:20), which is the “Spirit of God” (Matthew 12:28). Metaphor morphed into reality in Jesus Christ, who by his fingers opened the ears and freed the tongue of a son of God.